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BMW 02 Series mini-documentary makes us fall in love all over again

BMW's current reputation of building Ultimate Driving Machines can be traced back through history all the way to 1966, when the German automaker introduced the world to its 1600-2 two-door at the Geneva Motor Show. The car's name was simplified in 1971 to BMW 1602, and it went on to spawn the 2002, one of the most famous BMW models of all time.
BMW looks back on its past successes in a video that you can see below. As the automaker itself says in the video description, "This series was extraordinarily successful in reinterpreting the concept of the sports saloon and played a major role in motor sport long after production had come to an end." The 2002 would be replaced in 1975 by another legendary model from BMW: the 3 Series.
We'd be lying if we said we didn't long for something along the lines of the classic 2002 from BMW today. Since that doesn't seem likely to happen anytime soon, join us in remembering the cars that helped make BMW a household name by scrolling down below.

2014 BMW 328i xDrive Gran Turismo

"The Ultimate Driving Machine" has been BMW's tagline for nearly 40 years. Launched in the 1970s, the marketing campaign was a stroke of genius by ad firm Ammirati & Puris, as the phrase helped differentiate the imported Bavarian cars from their fellow European rivals by subtly pointing out that Mercedes-Benz and Audi were offering luxury models, while BMW was selling sporty and youthful driving dynamics. The campaign worked - some would argue that stands among the most effective ad campaigns ever - and countless Baby Boomers embraced the brand's fun-to-drive image by taking delivery of the company's new models.
BMW still boasts that its vehicles are "The Ultimate Driving Machine" four decades later, but the brand is very different today. It offered just a few model lines in the mid-1970s, and only a handful of vehicles within. In 2014, the automaker offers an exhaustive range comprised of nearly a dozen lines with almost 50 different models. To survive and thrive, BMW has decided it must massively broaden its appeal.
One of the latest arrivals to BMW's ever-growing stable is the 2014 3 Series Gran Turismo. The five-door hatchback is best thought of as a smaller version of the company's 5 Series Gran Turismo built on stretched 3 Series platform that, in the case of this test car, shares the running gear of the 328i xDrive sedan. On paper, the five-passenger vehicle checks all the proper boxes with regards to performance, utility and economy. But does this family-focused 3 Series still deliver driving dynamics that qualify it for the title of Ultimate Driving Machine?

BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe caught again

It's been a while since we've seen the upcoming BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe out testing, but we're sort of inclined to ask "Why?" yet again. After all, the 4 Series is what the new 3 Series-based coupes and convertibles will be called, so the idea of another four-door version just sort of seems redundant. In other words, just how different will a 4 Series Gran Coupe be from a 3 Series sedan, aside from perhaps a more rakish roofline or a four-passenger seating configuration? Probably not much, but BMW clearly thinks it can use the additional bodystyle to rake in some extra profits.
Anyway, back to these spy shots. No more of the 4GC's skin has been revealed since the last time we saw it, but we fully expect it to share a lot of its design DNA with the 3 Series sedan, not to mention the attractive 4 Series coupe concept that bowed at this year's Detroit Auto Show.
Powertrain options should carry over direct from the 3 Series line, so we expect to see 428i and 435i models on hand, packing turbocharged four- and six-cylinder engines, respectively. We're sure that BMW's xDrive all-wheel drive will be available, and who knows, we could even get a 428d version with the new 2.0-liter turbodiesel four that debuted in the 328d at the New York Auto Show last week, or even an M4 variant.